


Set Me Free From The Darkness With Your Wings

by DontGetTooCloseItsDarkInside



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Grieving, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-29
Updated: 2014-04-15
Packaged: 2018-01-17 11:26:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1385929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DontGetTooCloseItsDarkInside/pseuds/DontGetTooCloseItsDarkInside
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi wasn't sure how he felt about this kid who claims to be from the past and who claims to be a immortal demigod. Nico wasn't sure how he felt about this uptight clean freak who's definitely a class A asshole.</p><p>Eventually, they figure how how they feel, with Nico coming to Levi with his grieving even after almost a thousand years and Levi wanting to know more about this strange past.</p><p>If it wasn't clear, that clean freak asshole and that grieving demigod fall in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write this the moment I was introduced to SNK and Levi. And I've finally found a way to combine these two worlds with one another.

They were outnumbered somehow.

 

Levi strung his horse sharply around to avoid the Titan’s feet, cursing under his breath as he attempted lead the distressed shoulders to safety. He didn’t want any casualties, not after losing his entire squad, and he knew they were still grieving over Marco.

 

Eren was still on his horse, not having enough room to change safety; he could see the young man getting more and more aggravated due to this as the seconds ticked past. He stayed at Arlert’s side, trying to keep his boyfriend safe. Stupid children. Arlert could handle himself; he had become quite the good solider as time had gone by.

 

“Heichou!” Eren called from his spot not five feet behind him. He tried to block the memories that came with it. All he could hear was Petra calling him name in fear as she followed him on her horse along with her comrades, growing more panicked every time he didn’t respond to her.

 

He shared a look with Erwin, and then promptly starred his horse to the right, calling after him to be followed. He had no idea why so many giants were in one place, it was almost like they were trying to avoid something that was farther out. Well, whatever it was, Levi was both annoyed by it and appreciated it.

 

Annoyed because due to the increase of Titans near the wall made they have to go on expeditions at least once a week for the last four months. This caused soldiers to constantly be sent out still tired and still recovering from bruises or mental trauma, and it had started to take on the younger ones.

 

Appreciated it because finally maybe these fuckers were afraid of something. Maybe if they could figure out what it was they could use it against them and made this whole process of saving humanity happen much quicker.

 

Just as he was having this thought, a titan fell down in front of him, dead. He startled, weaving his horse out of the way, and then looked back to see who had ignored his orders of staying on the damn horses and had gone up there.

 

Everyone was on their horses, looking as confused as Levi felt.

 

He frowned, and then startled once again when another titan fell, a look of surprise on the creatures face. He stopped his horse who was making noises of distress and stirred her away sharply from another falling titan.

 

“What in the gods name…” he whispered under his breath.

 

Whatever the titans were afraid of, it was now there. More titans fell, shaking the earth. No…the Titans weren’t shaking it, there was a crack opening up in the ground, sucking a few of them down in it, avoiding the troops perfectly. Some of the titans even attempted to flee, but they were killed as well. Levi brought his mare back, trying to look up to see exactly what they were dealing with, but the sun was in his eyes, blinding him.

 

New plan, he might have to kill this thing.  Whatever the hell it was.

 

The last titan dropped, and all was quiet. Erwin and everyone was frozen on their horses, looking to shocked to move or even blink, they stared around them at the bodies of the titans. He approached one that was close to him and observed its neck. Perfectly cut.

 

“Sorry, did I startle you?”

 

Well if they weren’t before they were definitely startled before. Even Levi reeled back a little, his eyes widening. He wasn’t afraid, no, he just didn’t think that whatever this thing was that it would be able to speak.

 

“I’m sure you didn’t need any help, but I couldn’t resist.” The voice continued, it was young, smooth and almost kind, like they were concerned about what their fighting may have done to the soldiers wellbeing. Like he was trying to comfort them. Yes, it was a he. Definitely a he.

 

Levi shoot Erwin a look. _How are we gonna handle this?_

Erwin gave him a slight shrug and then turned to the general area where the voice seemed to be coming from; he brought his white stallion forward a few steps.

 

“What are you?” the commander asked.

 

A breathy little laugh echoed around the area they were all standing in. “Nothing that’s a harm to you.”

 

“Are you human?”

 

“Somewhat.” The voice answered. “Half. But no longer mortal.”

 

“So you’re…” Erwin trailed off, leaving the question in the air.

 

“An immortal demigod.”  The voice answered, like it should have been obvious.

 

“Will you allow us to see you?” Erwin continued.

 

“I suppose.”

And from the shadows, literally it walked out from the shadows, a young man appeared, seeming to be about Jaeger and Arlert’s age.

 

He was good looking, but not in the usual male sort of way. Kind of like Arlert, the proper word to describe him would have been _beautiful._ He had black hair that was as dark as the shadows he had walked out of, pale skin that resembled ivory, a button nose and cupids bow pink lips and deep, almost amused dark brown eyes. He was small like Levi thought, they were probably the same height, and he was thin. He wore strange clothing, the kind that you would have seen in the books about the outside world in the past. He was pretty sure the shoes were something called _Converse_ and the shirt something that had the word graphic in it. He wore tight pants like there’s, though they were black and so was the shirt he was wearing. The jacket that was slung over his small frame was brown with a fuzzy collar.

 

“What’s your name?” Erwin asked.

 

The boy’s lips twitched. “Nico di Angelo, sir.” Well at least this brat had some manners.

 

“And you’re a demigod?” Erwin checked.

 

The boy nodded seriously.

 

“I thought that whole species had been wiped out.” Levi said coldly from his horse, the dark brown eyes flew to him, and he looked a little pained, with a grieving expression he nodded.

 

“It has been. I’m the only one left, only because my father made me immortal.”

 

“Who’s your father?” Erwin asked.

 

“Hades, God of the Underworld.” He looked proud, his eyes turning a little affectionate when he said his father’s name. The god was clearly someone the boy looked up to greatly.

 

“Well.” Erwin said promptly when the silence that had followed became too much to bare. “Thank you for your services Mr. di Angelo.”

 

“Even though it wasn’t needed.” Levi added coldly.

 

Nico di Angelo frowned at him. “I was simply helping. You looked like you were losing hold of the situation. Anyways, I was tracking after that big one over there anyways.” He pointed to a blond titan that was more than twenty meters tall.

 

Levi gave the titan a unimpressed look. “That’s you big kill of the day, kid?” He snorted, but the cadets were giving him scandalized looks, twenty meters was pretty impressive, including the twenty or so others the boy had gotten rid of.

 

“I’ve killed bigger.” Nico replied coldly.

 

“Oh really?” Levi asked. “What was it then? Twenty one? Twenty two?”

 

Nico glared at him from under his bangs. “I-“

 

“Levi that’s enough.” Erwin scolded. “You should be thankful.”

 

Levi shrugged and turned his horse around. “Back to the walls.”

 

Erwin thanked Nico one more time, and then they all turned and started going in the general direction of the walls. Levi sat high on his horse, wanting to show just how unimpressed he was by this kid. He couldn’t believe the titans were frightened of that little thing. He was messy and a child and-  


“You know those aren’t actually titans right?” Nico called after them.

 

Hanji stopped in her tracks and then whipped around, her eyes going wide under her glasses, she kicked her horse on its side and the animal went running towards Nico, coming to a halt about three inches away from the boy’s face.

 

“You know something about titans?” she said breathlessly.

 

“Hanji come back.” Levi prompted.

 

She gave him a little wave over her shoulder. “You can go back if you want Levi, I wanna hear the information this child has.” She got down from her horse, coming to face an amused looking demigod.

 

“Child.” He repeated. “I’m older then all of you by a few hundred years.”

 

“Never mind that.” Hanji breathed. “Tell me tell me, please!” she pleated, clamping her hands together and looking seconds away from going down on her knees.

 

The boy now looked unsure. “It’s a long story; it’s too dangerous to stand around out here. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

 

Hanji shoot Erwin a desperate look, her lips trembling and eyes going wide, she whimpered at him. “Please please please, Commander. Please!”

 

Erwin shoot Levi a glance, the man responded by a bored expression. “We should bring him to headquarters so Hanji can get her information. If you don’t mind?” he asked Nico.

 

The boy shrugged. “Fine.” He took a step backwards. “I’ll meet you there.” And then he disappeared into the shadows, leaving behind a bunch of flabbergasted cadets and a bored Levi.

 

“I hope you know what you’re doing, old man.” Levi said coyly and then kicked his mare’s sides so she broke out into a run, leading the group.

…..

 

“I can give you something for that.” Nico said, leaning back in his chair a little and eyeing Mikasa’s wounded shoulder.

 

“Not interested.” Mikasa replied.

 

Nico laughed. “Sorry honey, I don’t like girls.” He said the words lightly but his face grimaced slightly, like it was a hard thing for him to admit.

 

Mike, Hanji, Erwin, and Levi sat around a table with Nico, Armin, Eren and Mikasa were also there in the background, standing around the walls, wanting to hear the information just in case there was something that Eren needed to know. Well, _Eren_ had been invited; his boyfriend and sister had just come along with him.

 

The boy took a knife from his belt and slowly cut his hand open, even startling Levi. He took out a canister and drank from it deeply. It healed right in front of their eyes.

 

He raised a brow at Mikasa. “You interested now?”

 

“I don’t date midgets.”

 

Nico’s dark eyes sparkled. “And I still don’t date girls.” He went to put the canister away but was stopped by Eren.

 

“Wait!”

 

Nico looked up at him. “What?”

 

“Can you give some to Armin?” Eren asked.

 

“Blondie?” Nico questioned, Eren nodded. “Sure.”

 

“Eren I don’t-“Armin began, looking highly embarrassed, he wiggled slightly in Eren’s grip, but he held onto his boyfriend tightly.

 

Nico got up from his chair as the brunet began to pull up his spluttering boyfriends shirt, the white material was pulled away to reveal several deep scratches from falling off of his horse that morning.

 

“You won’t be able to digest it, but you should be fine if I just put it on there.” Before either Armin or Eren could protest at those words the boy was taking out a cotton swab and applying the golden liquid to Armin’s scratches. They healed surprising quickly, and then Armin hissed.

 

“Burns a little?” Nico asked.

 

Armin nodded swiftly.

 

“That means it’s working. If you had digested it your whole body would have burst into flames. Probably. Never saw a human drink it, but when I was a demigod that’s what would have happened if I drank too much.” He put the canister back in his jacket pocket and took his seat once again.

 

“Thank you.” Armin muttered as Eren helped him adjust his shirt.

 

“Welcome.”

 

Hanji bounced in her seat, her eyes wild, a tab of notebook paper was clutched tightly in her hands, along with a fountain pen that looked like it might have broken if she squeezed just the slightest bit more.

 

“So tell me di Angelo,” Hanji prompted. “Where does this all begin?”

 

“Well I guess it all technically began with a boy named Percy Jackson.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un-edited, all mistakes are mine. Nico tells the them about the seven and gives them titan information that i pulled right out of the depths of my ass apparently.

The young man grimaced slightly in pain as he said the boy’s name. His hands clenched tightly at their place on the table, and for moment he was silent, his eyes clamped shut like he was overwhelmed with just the sentence.

 

“Mr. di Angelo?” Erwin asked in concern.

 

“Sorry.” Nico muttered, his thick eyelashes fluttered and looked up at them, the pain still clear on his face.

 

“So tell us about this Jackson-“Hanji began to say, her pen tapping the table in anticipation.

 

“Percy.” Nico corrected and then quieted for moment. “Percy was the hero of Olympus, the first hero of our time.”

 

“And who was he a child of?” Hanji asked curiously.

 

“Poseidon.” Nico paused, gathering his thoughts. “He was the first child of Poseidon in many decades.”

 

“Whys that?”

 

“The Big Three-Hades, Poseidon and Zeus all agreed not to have any children after the Second World War. Zeus broke that deal when he had his daughter, and then Poseidon had Percy, and then Zeus had another child, a son. But I’ll get to him later.” His face flashed with pain again, and he looked down at his clenching hands.

 

“And Hades broke it with you?” Hanji asked in confusion.

 

“No.” Nico disagreed. “I was born before the Second World War. After my mother was killed by Zeus my father put my sister and I in the Lotus Hotel and Casino in-well you don’t know what I’m talking about. Anyways, seventy years passed without either of us aging a day, though it seemed like a few months. My father sent one of the Furies to get us out and then we were sent to a military school, where I met Percy.” He grimaced again.

 

“Anyways. Percy fought against Kronos, _a real titan_ , father of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. When Kronos was defeated he awoke his mother Gaea, the earth goddess.” He said this all in a rather numb voice, like there were too many emotions boiling under the service that he wouldn’t allow himself to let out. “Gaea awoke her children, the giants. And to fully rise she needed the blood of two of the Seven to awake.”

 

“The Seven of what?” Hanji asked, leaning forward in excitement.

 

“ _Seven half-bloods shall answer the call._

_To storm or fire, the world must fall._

_An oath to keep with a final breath,_

_And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.”_ Nico cleared his throat and dropped the ominous voice he had resided the Prophecy in.  “The seven included Percy, Annabeth Daughter of Athena, Piper Daughter of Aphrodite, Leo son of Hephaestus, Frank son of Mars, Jason son of Jupiter and Ha-“ his voice broke and his face twisted in pain horribly, he clamped his eyes shut, his mouth trembling.

 

“Ha what?” Hanji demanded.

 

Nico opened his eyes, they were full of tears. “Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, my sister.”

 

“I thought you said your sister was a daughter of Hades.”

 

“That was my other sister, Bianca; she died when she went on a quest with Percy a few days after we left the military school. Hazel died back in 1942, and I brought her back to life because I wanted her to have a chance at Elysium, which she gave up so her mother wouldn’t be sent to the Fields of Punishment.” Nico let out a sigh, looking extremely drained.

 

 

“So when did the thing with the giants start?” Hanji demanded impatiently.

 

 

Nico frowned. “With Percy going missing. He and Jason were switched, Percy was sent to the Roman Camp and Jason was sent to the Greek one. Leo built a ship, the Argo 2, and they picked up Frank, Percy and Hazel and went to Rome to save me.”

 

“And why did you need to be saved?” Levi asked with a bored expression, Nico eye twitched, not liking the patronizing tone the man held.

 

“I went looking for the Doors of Death which needed to be closed so monsters would stay dead and I got sucked down into Tartarus. That’s Greek hell by the way, were all the _real Titans_ and worse monsters are.” His eyes glittered angrily at Levi, but the man kept a neutral and bored face. “After going through Tartarus I was kidnapped at the Doors of Death by two giants, real giants, and they put me in a bronze jar. Percy, Piper and Jason saved me, but then Annabeth and Percy got sucked down into Tartarus.” He said the girls name slightly bitterly, though sighed afterwards, looking a little ashamed. “I led them to the Doors of Death and when we saved them I went back to Camp Half Blood, the Greek camp, with Reyna the praetor of the Roman Camp with the Athena Parthenos to make peace between the two camps and the seven sailed off to Athens to face the giants.” He said this all in a rush, not concentrating on any particular action, letting it all stream out and appear as just brief information, like they weren’t actions that had changed humanity forever. The reason for this off put tone was obvious; it pained him too much to put any emotion into it.

 

“But they didn’t return.” Hanji guessed, sounding sad.

 

 

“No.” Nico’s voice broke. “They didn’t. They all died fighting the giants and Gaea because the gods were too messed up to help them and they all died.” He voice broke again and he looked away for a moment or two.  “I eventually got the gods to help me defeat Gaea and the giants, but by that time humanity was already shrinking and the giants had already begun to breed.” His nose wrinkled in disgust. “What you call titans are actually the inbreed descendants of the giants, that’s why they can’t talk and they eat people, though I’m pretty sure the original giants would have eaten us as well eventually. I definitely saw a few demigods get eaten.” He looked down, not wanting them to see the tears that were pooling in his eyes again.

 

“So what happened on your end after the seven died?” Hanji asked compassionately, looking like she wanted to run to the other side of the table and cradle Nico in her arms. She had put down her briefly and was looking at him, her chin resting on her palm.

 

“Well….I knew they were dead. And it was only a few hours after that we were attacked. Reyna and I tried to keep order, tried to keep everyone safe. But everyone panicked and tried to fight or run and…they all died. After a few days there was only a small group of us. Conner and Travis Stoll, Will Solace, Katie Gardner, Clarisse La Rue, Dakota, Bobby, Reyna and me.” He sighed sadly, his eyelashes wet. “They were all dead before we could get to Manhattan; it was just Reyna and I then. Then she died trying to hold some monsters back so I could get up to Olympus.” His face looked numb and he whispered, “She promised she would be right behind me.”

 

The room was silent for a moment. Armin, Eren and Mikasa had all averted their eyes, giving the boy some privacy as he gathered his bearings, Erwin looked down at the table thoughtfully while Hanji scribbled away at her notes. Mike was examining his fingernails, sniffing them a little. Levi was the only one who didn’t look away, he watched the boy with a frown on his face.

 

“Anything else? Something that might have actually be of use.” Levi finally drawled, breaking the silence.

 

Nico gave him a glare that would have caused a lesser man to wet himself. “Depends what you want to know about.”

 

“Why is it that we can only kill it by the neck?”

 

“There’s a reason why it’s called the Achilles tendon.” Nico said, rolling his eyes. “About five hundred years ago, Titans were close to being completely wiped out and-

 

“Wait what?” Eren said, leaning over Hanji’s chair as the women gaped at him.

 

Nico blinked. “Well yeah, they’ve been around for the last eight hundred and fifty years.”

 

“Are you fucking with us?” Eren demanded.

 

“Idiot, who do you think killed the Titans for over seven hundred years before humans found out about them?” Nico said, eyes blazing. “I kept them away from you all for as long as I could, but a hundred and fifty years ago they got an advantage on me and I couldn’t keep them at bay anymore.” Nico spat bitterly.

 

“What was that?” Hanji demanded, furiously scribbling away at her notebook.

 

“Back then Titans were vulnerable anywhere, I could kill them with a single decent strike in the heart, the face, the throat, anywhere really.  But then it got the point where there was only a handful left, I was preparing to finish them off, but Gaea got to them first.”

 

“I thought you said you beat, Gaea.” Hanji said in confusion.

 

“I did. But she’s too powerful to ever die, the best we can do is put her to sleep, and even in rest she’s powerful. She led one of the giants down to the river Styx, and they got Percy’s-I mean the curse of Achilles.”

 

“Percy had that curse?” Hanji asked.

 

Nico visibly blushed. “When I was twelve Percy was preparing to fight Kronos and he needed something to protect him so I guided him down and through father’s domain and brought him to the Styx to bathe in it.” He cleared his throat, but he was still blushing a little. “Anyways Gaea got one of the giants to bathe in it and then killed them all but a single female for him to mate with. Back then, the giants still had sexual organs, but they went away within a couple of years because of so much added inbreeding.  Gaea chose for the spot to be at the nape, thinking that it wouldn’t be possible for humans to reach it.” Nico’s eyes shimmered. “Of course she was wrong though.” His eyes gleamed as they ran over Mikasa’s 3D gear; he let out a long whistle. “If I wasn’t the last demigod I would have thought a child of Hephaestus made those, their impressive. Still, shadow travel is much better way of traveling.”

 

Hanji looked up from her work, panting. “This, this is marvelous. Any idea of why they’re body’s reform?”

 

Nico shrugged. “I have a theory.” He cleared his throat when they all looked at him, expecting an answer, it was clear he wasn’t used to being put on the spot, that, or he just didn’t like attention in general. “See, your titans aren’t exactly monsters. I mean they’re monsters, but they’re not my world’s type of monsters. In my world if you kill a monster it goes down to Tartarus and it slowly reforms and comes back in a few hundred years or so. Thankfully, it’s not the same with the giants, when they die they stay dead.

 

“But they do come from monsters, a couple hundred generations back but they kept some of the monsters traits, such as reforming but quicker, and from what the Survey Corps and I can tell, they’ve Achilles curse traits as well, I’ve never meant one who’s vulnerable in any other place.” He was babbling a little, looking a bit distracted like he was thinking several things at once while speaking, but Hanji easily caught his words and wrote them all down, looking close to tears.

 

“Hey Nico.” Hanji said.

 

“Yes Miss Hanji?” Nico asked.

 

“OH so polite. I was just wondering—were you in love with Percy Jackson? Because it seemed to me like you were.”

 

Nico’s face convulsed in agony, he threw a hand over his trembling mouth and looked away sharply, fighting the tears that were suddenly filling his eyes with all he had.

 

“No.” he said, his voice thick with fought back sobs. “No I wasn’t. what a ridiculous thing to say. Percy was in love with his girlfriend, he still is. I never-I wasn’t. No. Absolutely not, he was like a brother to me, that’s all.”

 

No one was fooled, but they didn’t say anything, Hanji just hummed.

 

When Nico didn’t speak for several moments, Hanji looked up and said in her kindest voice, “Thank you for sharing this information with us, Nico, it helps a lot…knowing where the titans come from.”

 

Nico shook aside his bangs and nodded to her, the rims of his eyes red.  He smiled the slightest bit at her, surprising her.

 

“What, boy?” she said, her tone teasing.

 

Nico’s lips twitched. “Nothing. You just remind me of someone I used to know. I think he would have liked you.”

 

“Who’s that?” Hanji asked curiously.

 

“Leo.” He said with a shrug. “You both have that genius mad scientist feel, it gives me nightmares to think of the things the two of you could have come up with.”

 

“He was a scientist?”

 

“A mechanic, but he could build anything, _he would_ build anything. He was insane.” He said the last part fondly. “I didn’t know him for very long when he was alive, but I’ve gotten to know him over the years.”

 

Hanji frowned. “Huh?”

 

“Well yeah he and the rest of the seven are in Elysium, they died as heroes. Obviously. I visit them all the time.” Nico shrugged and then looked around the room. “You know you have a lot of ghosts around here.”

 

Mike choked on his tea, the others looking at him strangely.

 

Nico pointed to himself, a smile creeping onto his face. “Ghost King.” He said the name warmly, like he was on more common ground now. “Ghosts love me and I love ghosts, but I’ve hardly ever seen so many rested in one place before. There was a lot in the forests as well and-“he cut himself off and looked at a space a little ways behind Levi’s shoulder. He pointed to the man, “You have a lot of ghosts hanging around you.”

 

Levi couldn’t help being a little unnerved at the statement, and for a moment he was tempted to look over his shoulder. Which was ridiculous, he knew he wouldn’t see anything there. He looked at the boy, only to see him looking around the room, a frown on his face. He was obviously listening to something intensely.

 

“Yes yes I know.” He muttered, waving a hand. “No I don’t think that would be wise.” He said with a slight sigh, he frowned at whatever he was talking too, not paying any mind to the horrified looks he was getting.

 

“Yes, okay, well you don’t have to get angry about it. Fine, fine, I’ll do it. But you all have to promise to let go afterwards, you’re not doing anything to help him by hanging around, he would feel better if he knew you were at peace.”

 

“Um…who are you talking too?” Eren asked curiously.

 

“Captain Levi’s deceased squad.” Nico said.

 

Levi jolted in his chair, his hand tightening on his tea cup so it wouldn’t shake.

 

“There here?” Eren asked, eyes widening.

 

“They follow Levi wherever he goes, they were in the woods too and-For the last time Oluo I said I wasn’t telling him that, don’t be a pervert, Hades save your soul.” He glared at the corner of the room, “Anyways, they’d like me to talk with Levi in private. They’ve agreed to move on if they get to speak to him.”

 

Levi’s tea cup was visibly shaking in his grasp, he fought the urge to let it slip through his fingers and crash onto the table.

 

Erwin was looking at Levi, frowning slightly. “Levi would you-“

 

“Just go.” Levi said sharply. They all got up and bustled out of the room as loudly as they possibly could, Hanji slamming the door accidentally behind them, leaving Nico, Levi and four ghosts alone in the room.

 

“Listen here, you stupid child,” Levi began. “This little joke you think is so funny is-“

 

“It’s not a joke.” Nico growled back. “I’m trying to help you asshole, and them. So just shut up and listen.”

 

Levi bristled like an angry cat, no one had ever spoken to him like that before, and for a moment looked like he was going to reach across the table and slap Nico right there. But then he barred his teeth and gave the most powerful glare he had ever given. “Stupid brat.” He muttered voice full of hatred.

 

“Petra says she doesn’t like that you hold their deaths heavy on your heart, and while they’re glad you’ll make sure they’re deaths weren’t in vain, they don’t want you to continue to grieve over them, even though you don’t let people know you do. She also thinks you’re ridiculous for still feeling guilty for pushing her body out of the carriage; it was something that you needed to do to save lives, and she’s thankful she was of use even after death.” Nico said, keeping his eyes on the table.

 

Levi could feel his eyes burning, he got up from the table and rushed from the room, not able to hear one more single word.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Levi find something they have in common.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so ive realized ive been kind of neglecting this story, which i didnt mean to do, so i just put up what i had so far, its pretty short, sorry

Levi quickly made his way to his room, almost running, he immediately forced down a glass of whiskey, the alcohol shocked the tears right out of his eyes and had made his head briefly dizzy enough to numb the emotions that had cursed threw him at di Angelo’s little speech about Petra and the others. It was unnerving, especially because he knew it was true, he couldn’t have known about the cart, not unless he had been following them, and he was pretty sure he would have noticed someone like Nico hanging around. And no, screw you, not because he was good looking, but because was mysterious and weird and was clearly misplaced in their world.

He turned around and leaned against his desk, weighted down with candles and paperwork. He eyed his empty and impeccably clean room. 

“Petra?” he muttered.

Slowly, out of the corner of his eye, he watched as the candle nearest the edge moved slowly across the surface and fell down on the floor, its glass holder shattering and the white candle stick breaking in half. He didn’t give his body the order to do it, but nevertheless he found himself sliding down the length of the table and sitting on the floor, hands coming up to run threw his hair.

“Is that you Petra? Or is that Auruo, angry I didn’t ask for him instead?” He found himself whispering to the floor.

“It’s Erd actually, he feels bad.” 

He didn’t even startle at the voice that suddenly came from the corner of his room, he looked up, hands shaking a little, to watch the boy leave the shadows and take a few feet into the room, he looked around it, clearly judging, though Levi couldn’t tell if it was positive or negative, not that he cared what this brat thought.

“Petra and the rest are here now.” Nico muttered, Levi didn’t respond, just reached up and took another drink, Nico sat down on the floor across from him, pulling his legs up to his chest and crossing them at the ankles, he put his chin on his knees and watched Levi drink himself threw another cup.

“That should be enough, Captain.” Nico whispered, and Levi found himself listening to him, putting the alcohol back on the table, he stared around the room, wishing he could see them. Some papers fell from his desk even thought there was to wind and scattered around him. We wish you could see us too, they seemed to say.

“It’s been several months,” Nico mused. “But you still grieve for them.”

“Why is that any of your business brat?” he asked coldly, his silvery eyes narrowing dangerously.

“I understand, Levi.” Nico said turning his dark, beautiful eyes to him. “I still grieve for my mother and sisters and friends and it’s been almost a thousand years, and it still feels like it did the day I lost them. You never stop hurting and longing for the ones you loved or the ones you felt you had to take care off. I mean I still see them from time to time, but it’s not the same. There all I think about, and that…that I get. That’s how we’re the same.” 

Levi wanted to snap at him, wanted to say that they were not the same and they never would be the same, but he found he could not. He had promised numbers of dying soldiers he would never forget their deaths, and he never did. He had never let go of anyone he had ever loved, not his parents, not Farlan and Isabel, not Petra, Gunther, Erd, and Auruo, nor all the other soldiers whom he had held as they died or the ones he had watched get eaten. So he stayed silent and looked at the floor, waiting for Nico to start again.

“Will you listen to me this time?” Nico asked.

Levi scowled and nodded.

“Alright then.” He looked around the room. “You know what Petra had to say, and for the others it’s the same really. They don’t want you grieve them, Levi, they want you remember the few good times you all shared together, the battles you won as a squad, also Auruo says to adjust your cravat.” Levi did so without thinking about it. “They’re proud to have had you as their Captain and their friend, and though they wish they hadn’t died, they wouldn’t have changed a thing they had done in the forest except react faster, they would still unconditionally follow you anywhere. Erd also wants you to stop avoiding his wife and take her up on her invitation to have dinner together, it’ll make her feel better, she doesn’t blame you Levi, none of their families do, they blame the titans, as they should. They know you worry yourself sick about that, but you shouldn’t have too, meeting Erd’s wife would relieve you both a little of the grief.” Nico sighed. “Now is there anything you want to say to-“

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” Levi interrupted him, his silver eyes shutting so no tears could escape.

“They don’t blame you.”

“It doesn’t matter, I was their Captain. I should have been there to save them or died with them. I was supposed to lead them in the right direction and make sure they came out safe.”

Nico nibbled on his lower lip thoughtfully. “I know how you feel, Levi.” He repeated, and then let out a heavy sigh. “Petra says if you say something stupid like that she’ll bust open your head with that lamp, she says sacrifices had to be made and you should know that, many other shoulders died the same as they did for that same reason, lives had to be given, things had to be given up, it’s the way a soldiers life is.”

“Sounds just like her.” He chuckled softly.

“Well she would sound like herself, even after death-“ Nico paused and looked somewhere above Levi’s head and a second later the Captain felt a gentle breeze against his the top of his head. He looked up, but of course saw nothing.

“Petra gave you a kiss goodbye.” Nico muttered. “They’ll be leaving in a few moments.” He turned to a space to Levi’s left. “Remember to give Charon my name, he’ll let you right through if you do.” He paused to listen to something. “Yes, I’ll make sure he doesn’t.” Nico turned to Levi. “Say goodbye, Levi.”

“Goodbye.” Levi whispered, his eyes burning. 

He felt several more breezes against his chest and shoulders and head and then all of a sudden the seemingly empty room seemed even emptier.

“Their gone now.” Nico said gently, Levi nodded, not moving.

“What did they tell you not to let me do?” Levi said, slowly getting onto his knees and pushing himself off the ground. Nico followed suite, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, his face shadowed.

“Not to let your sit around and grieve over them for the rest of your life. It’s a waste.”

“Yet you do it.” Levi pointed out, opening his door and waving the boy out. Nico gave him a unimpressed glance and walked out of the room and out into the hallway, Levi followed suite, shutting the door behind them.

Nico didn’t answer, deciding just to follow Levi back to the conference room. The others were sitting around the table, talking in suspiciously hushed voices and nursing tea cups in between hands but not drinking.

“What’s going on here?” Levi drawled, acting as if nothing had happened and swining himself into his chair, Nico backed himself up into the shadows and watched closely.

Erwin cleared his throat and then said. “We’ve made a decision.” He then turned in his seat to face the son of hades carefully; studying the young man’s pale face. 

“I’m guessing it concerns me.” Nico said softly, his eyes on a patch of dust on the corner of the table. Levi immediately saw it and brought out a handkerchief to wipe it away.

“Yes.” Erwin shared one last look with all the members at the table and then turned back to Nico.

“Nico di Angelo, would you like to join the Survey Corps?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> but you cant act like you didnt see that coming


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico drinks tea in Elysium with his old friends and old regrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah i got really inspired for this story in the middle of the day so i did it even though i updated yesterday and now im gonna go work on my omega levi mpreg 
> 
> oh and encase anyone was wondering, Levi's gonna top when they finally have sex. So yeah. Just thought I would mention it.

“I need to think about it.” And then the young man sank back into the shadows like it was water and disappeared, leaving the room considerably brighter than it had been before.  
………………..  
Nico was always astonished of the contract between Elysium and the world that was now existing above. The Underworld itself was completely different, the lines were considerably shorter than they had once been, a lot shorter, there was only about ten or fifteen people dying a day nowadays and most of them were very young from sickness or very old, passing away because of their age or once again, sickness.

Thought there had been a number of times that the lines had been longer, sometimes an added twenty or so people, and that one time the line had been as long as it had been in the old days. He remembered coming home after killing a group of Titans he had been tracking and finding the place jammed packed. That was the day Wall Maria had gone down and over 100,000 had been killed. Then there was the time with the invasion of Trost and the Female Titan era.

Right now, the only people in the lines were four people, one woman, and three men, waiting patiently for the old person in front of them to be judged. It was extremely annoying that they had to wait, in Nico opinion, all the lives that had been lost in the Survey Corps should have gone straight to Elysium. But they still had to check in case of traitors. 

“Nico,” Petra breathed when he past and he turned towards them, a sad smiling fighting at the corners of his mouth. 

“Hello Miss Ral,” he greeted, shuffling forward awkwardly, his hands twisting at his sides. Even after all these years he hadn’t exactly mastered the art of human interaction.

“Nico,” Petra nearly cooed, she reached out and even though he usually didn’t allow touch he let her grab his hand and hold it to her cheek. “Thank you so so much for helping us with Levi.”

“You’re welcome.” He said kindly as the three men beside her nodded in agreement, small smiles catching across their features briefly.

After a few more kind words, Nico turned his back on them and once again began his way to Elysium, he gave a pained smile as the golden gates came up in the distance, the sound of laughter already reaching his ears, it was so bright and bubbly it could have made even the darkest of hearts cheerful, the exception somehow always being Nico. He never felt happiness while entering the gates; instead he felt sadness, pain, regret. 

The sight of the Greek buildings and the roman marble mansions greeted him as always, he passed through the gates as if they were a passible vapor instead of a solid, and walked through the houses and buildings and the groups of smiling and playful people. He saw Lee Fletcher, Michael Yew and Will Solace sitting on the front steps of a building that resembled the Apollo Cabin, strumming harps and guitars. Usually he would have lingered and chattered, but he was there for a reason, so he kept on walking.

He passed a McDonalds on his way, the dead loved McDonalds, and since everything modern had been wiped out above his father installed all modern restaurants and forms of entertainment, it was quite convenient really. They would be at the beach, maybe, or perhaps at one of the parks. There was one that they usually visited, and he wasn’t surprised when he found them there, the seven of them, they stayed together, even after death.

Not for the first time, Nico wished that he had been there to die with them. 

Leo was sitting in a pile of bolts and screwdrivers, consecrating on the contraption in his hands. Piper had her feet in Annabeth’s lap and the girl appeared to be painting them for her. Percy and Jason were playing Frisbee, Hazel was laying on a apparently sleeping Frank. 

“Nico!”

The voice that called his name made his cheeks want to flush and his heart thudded painfully against his ribs. Gods damn Aphrodite, it wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair that after almost a thousand years he was still in love with Percy Jackson. The stupid beautiful idiot ran towards and lifted him right off the ground, twirling him around.

“Hey its been like forever!” Percy said when he set him down on his feet.

“I’ve been busy.” Nico said, walking past him to greet the rest of the group that was perking up and walking towards him, he got hugs from them all. Even Annabeth, though his arms were stiff around her and his mind bitter. Leo patted his shoulder roughly after they hugged, grinning broadly. Sometimes he missed the times where they were all terrified of him.

“I’m not here on a leisurely visit,” Nico said firmly, silencing them without any effort, it was almost amusing, the glares they gave him when he used his powers to glue their mouths shut. “I’m here on business, we need to talk.”

They sat down in the garden behind Hazel and Frank’s house. There was hanging Japanese cherry blossom trees and lavender all over the place and grape wines growing up the wooden fence. He was handed a white, gleaming tea cup and a plate of pastries was shoved his way by Hazel. He sat in between her and Jason, who was giving him giant, blinding white smile, pleased to have one of his best friends back at his side. Reyna had arrived not two minutes before hand, her gold and purple dress swinging around her loosely, she gave him an enormous hug and he felt his eyes burn. I should have saved you, I should have died with you, I shouldn’t have left you behind. 

“So what’s up?” Leo asked, shoving an entire pastry into his mouth.

“They want me to join the Survey Corps.” It was best to get straight to the point, they all knew about the Survey Corps and the current stare of humanity, they all knew about the Titans. Several times, he knew they had all considered rebirth, wanting to help. But it wasn’t like they could do anything, they wouldn’t remember how to fight, they wouldn’t have their powers. And most of all, they didn’t want to leave their old lives behind.

Hazel nearly dropped her tea cup into the bowl of pudding in front of her. With shaking hands, she put the tea cup down in the little flower covered glass plate. 

“Are you?”

“I’m not sure.” Nico hummed. “What do you guys think?”

“It’s not like you could die, so why not?” Percy said with a shrug, ripping apart a cheese Danish and shoving it down, his cheeks puffed out. He looked so stupid like that, stupid and cute.

“Gee Percy, I didn’t think of that at all, how stupid of me.” Nico said sarcastically adding another of spoonful of sugar to his tea. 

“I just don’t know if it’s the right thing to do. The all know of the gods, but I’m not sure how humanity would take it if I came out in the open.” Nico mused. “I told them all the information I had on the Titans and it seemed to be a big help for them, I could really make a change for humanity.” 

“You being a great fighter should help them too.” Reyna said, sipping her plain brown tea and pushing away all offered treats. 

“They have some amazing soldiers,” Nico said, oddly defensive. “There’s even this guy named Eren Jaeger they call Humanity’s Hope,” he snorted. “He’s like the Percy of this era. And this other man, Erwin Smith, he’s the Commander of the Survey Corps he’s like their Jason but also kind of a Frank, and then there’s another guy, he’s called ‘Humanity’s Strongest’ he’s their most powerful solider.”

“Sounds like you.” Reyna said, taking a sip of her tea. 

“And there’s a girl named Mikasa Ackerman who reminds me of you,” Nico said avoiding the subject.

“What’s Humanity’s Strongest name?” Hazel asked over the rim over her tea cup.

“Lance Corporal Levi Ackerman.” Nico said, keeping his eyes down as he scooped a little pudding onto a plate, he hadn’t eaten in a day or two, and Hazel’s sweets were always the best. “But they also call him Captain Levi.”

“So this Mikasa girl and Levi are related?” Annabeth hummed, pouring some cream into her third cup of green tea. 

“I guess so, though I don’t know how. Probably cousins or something.” Nico acted as if the subject of the Captain was all very boring and didn’t meet any of their gazes as he ate his pudding. Acting like it was boring? It was boring, extremely boring. Just because the two of you have something in common…

“So everyone here gets their double but me?” Leo pouted, some jelly on his bottom lip. Piper scowled at the mess and wiped the jelly away. 

“They have a mad scientist by the name of Hanji I think you would enjoy the company of.” Nico smiled slightly. “By the way, if I do join the Corps, remind me to show you the 3DMG gear sometime, you’d love it.”

Leo’s eyes glowed like dying embers in a fire place. “3DMG you say? What’s that?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Nico said, saving his present company from an hour or so of boredom. 

“I think you should join,” Reyna said, setting her tea aside and looking at him serious, all business. “It sounds like these people really have a chance, and they will need your skill, experience and knowledge.”

“I agree.” Hazel said, her voice quivering the slightest bit. “I think you could make a big difference, just the tip on the scale they need.”

He looked around at the group of his friends, his family, and they all nodded, murmuring softly in agreement. Nico noticed that Jason hadn’t said anything; he just nodded and kept his eyes on his untouched tea cup. Piper apparently noticed too, but she didn’t say anything. 

Deciding he had kept them waiting enough, he got up from the table, going around saying goodbye to everyone. Annabeth saying that it had been too little time and he needed to visit more often, they missed him. None of them seemed to understand the pain he felt being there, and it was better that way. Percy’s arms held a little longer than usual around his waist and the face that was stuffed into his hair just went a little bit too deep. Leo tried to follow him out the door, but Piper grabbed him by the wrist and instead Jason trailed behind him as he walked towards the gates.

“He’s scared for you, you know.” Jason said as they left. He didn’t have to ask who he was talking about. “We all are, but Percy still feels like he has to take care of you.”

Nico snorted. “Since when has he ever taken care of me, Jason? Since when has anyone taken care of me but me?”

Jason, apparently, didn’t have an answer for that. “Just be careful alright,” he whispered, stopping Nico in front of the gates and giving him sad, puppy dog blue eyes. “I don’t want you to get hurt.” Nico sighed and nodded. “I will.” And then turned to leave.

“Hey wait,” Jason said, Nico stopped and raised a brow at him, confused. “What’s with that Levi guy you were telling us about?”

Nico laughed. “Jason he’s like thirty years old and he’s my height. He’s an asshole and he starts twitching at the sight of a patch of dust, trust me, nothing’s up.”

Jason gave him a unbelieving look. “You sure?”

“I mean, I guess he’s kind of admirable, he’s got guts. For a guy who’s five foot three he’d probably make you shit your pants with a single look.” 

“You guys have more in common than I thought.” Jason chuckled. “I remember there was a time where you could make a group of grown men run away with their tails between their legs with a look.”

“Fuck off, I can still do that.” Nico gave him a glare, his whole face darkening, but Jason just laughed, much to Nico’s displeasure.

“Sorry, sorry, I just can’t take it seriously, not when I know you’re not actually pissed.” Jason sighed, ginning and then gave Nico a hug, not seeming to care how Nico stiffened a little before giving it back.

“Come back to us in one piece, alright?” Jason asked.

Nico nodded, gave a little wave, and walked backwards threw the gates. He found a shadowy corner in the field of punishment and shadow traveled back to headquarters. 

Of course the room was empty. It was also pitch black. He found the door easily enough and then walked out into the hallway. It was eliminated by a single torch, the corridor casted in thick shadows, darkening even more at Nico’s presence. He took a advantage of this and sunk into the shadows again, walking out of them again not a second later in the Captains room.

The man was sitting at his desk, paper work laid out in front of him and his elbows on the table as he rubbed his temples. Nico had to admire his reflexes really, he was only in there for a second before Levi looked up, not even jumping at the sight of him standing in the darkened corner, his face a ghostly pallor and probably looking creepy as hell.

“What do you want brat?”

Nico walked into the room, not knowing what to do with himself. He noticed that Levi was no longer in his uniform, wearing a simple, loose long sleeve shirt and a pair of loose black night pants. The man nodded to a chair in the corner and Nico sat.

“I’ve made my decision.”

 

“It took your three days to decide?” Levi drawled, setting his tea cup down. “When I was asked to join I got about thirty minutes to decide.”

“Time moves differently down there,” Nico said, nodding to the floor. “It only felt like a few hours.”

“How so?” Levi asked, tone bored and picking up a fountain pen. 

“It changes, sometimes I’m down there for what feels like a couple days and I got up here and two months have passed, and sometimes I’m down there for what feels like half a year, but really it’s been a few hours on the surface.”

“Interesting.” Levi said. He clearly didn’t actually find it interesting. “So whats your decision brat?”

“I’m gonna join.”

“Mmm,” Levi hummed. “Erwin and the others will be pleased.”

“And you?”

“What?”

“How will you feel? About me joining.”

“Does it matter?”

“…..No.” Nico muttered.

“I guess as long as you don’t fuck shit up I don’t really give a fuck.” Levi said, taking a dainty sip of the tea. He gripped the cup in a way that Nico had literally never seen another human being do before. It was oddly intriguing.

“I’ve been doing this a lot longer then you have,” Nico said coldly, before Levi could respond, probably will a snappy remark and something about shit, he got up and moved to the shadows. “I just wanted someone to know, I’m going back to the Underworld to tell my father, and then I’ll be back.”

“Not as if I care where you go, you little shit.” Levi snorted as he disappeared.

**Author's Note:**

> So should I continue?


End file.
